SNET Strike Frustrates Some

By Carrie McCarthy
Assistant News

A strike held by 6,300 Southern New England Telecommunications (SNET) employees left a handful of Wesleyan students without telephone service this past week.

Members of the Connecticut Union of Telephone Workers, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America, are demanding an increase in wages comparable to those of telephone workers in other regions of the country. The workers have been on strike since August 23.

Eve Fox ’99, who is living in an off-campus house on Home Avenue, said that she and her housemates called SNET last Wednesday. Fox said that she was told by an SNET representative that their phone would be turned on by yesterday.

"It has been making it extremely difficult to get in touch with people," she remarked.

"The first time we called we got a recording, but then the next person we talked to was less than competent," said Carly Detterman ’99, another off-campus resident. "It’s really hard to get classes because we have to leave friends’ voice mail boxes. And we had to buy Wesleyan voice mail boxes, but they couldn’t call us to tell us what our numbers were."

SNET Maintenance Administrator Judy Hemphill has been working part-time outside of Atticus during the strike. While she said she was satisfied with her job, as a member of the union she had to strike.

"It’s really not that I don’t agree because I do," she said. "Some employees are just stuck in the middle. We’re unionized. Whether you’re supporting it or not supporting it, you’re bound to go out on strike. If you don’t, when you go back to work even the management won’t accept you. You’ll be labeled a traitor."

Employees are unhappy with the two-tiered wage levels that were created by a pending sale to SBC Communications, explained Hemphill. While she was hired before the reorganization and is therefore paid on a higher level, employees hired only a few weeks later do not make as much. They also have to pay a greater percentage of their income for insurance, amounting to about $75 every other week.

Hemphill noted that although Connecticut has one of the highest costs of living, SNET employees get paid less than those at companies in other regions.

"When SNET CEO Dan Miglio was asked why he was making so much he responded that he is getting paid comparable to other CEOs in the industry," she said. "So the union wants to get paid comparably to other workers in the industry."

Hemphill attributes the poor customer service during the strike to the unskilled managers and temporary workers filling in.

"Our managers don’t do our job," she said. "They sit there and make sure we do our job, but they don’t know how to do our job."

Ganesan Ravishanker, director of technical support services at ITS, said that there have actually been fewer telephone problems this year than in past. Over the summer, WesTel Administrator Adrian Donohue and his team checked all of the phone jacks on campus. They also met with SNET administrators, who pledged their support to have all phones ready for the beginning of school.

"In general, the strike has not affected us," Ravishanker said.

According to Donohue, the only delays in on-campus phone service have been at 256 Washington St., where they needed to order more phone lines. He said the people at SNET seem fairly well organized and have been as helpful as possible under the circumstances. He said he expected phone service to be turned on yesterday.

While a large majority of Wesleyan students seem to be immune to the effects of the strike, Hemphill does not foresee an agreement between SNET and the union in the near future.

"It’s going to be a long haul," she declared.